Newt Gingrich, who led the Republican Party to power a dozen years ago, told cheering conservatives Saturday that it is time to overhaul a balky, slow-moving government locked in the last century. Citing multiple government failures after Hurricane Katrina, the former House speaker said the government meltdown at all levels illustrated how badly government needs to be updated in all of its operations. "The system failed, the city of New Orleans failed, the state of Louisiana...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie urged conservative activists on Thursday to talk about what they are for, not just what they are against, and said Republicans need to focus on winning elections in addition to promoting their ideology. In his first major appearance before Republicans since he was engulfed in a home-state scandal over political retribution in January, Christie led a parade of potential 2016 presidential...

Alert Washingtonians were treated to an odd juxtaposition not long ago. John McCain was booed at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the big annual gathering of the right-wing tribes, while trying to establish that he was a conservative. On the same day, across town at the American Enterprise Institute -- another conservative stronghold -- Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, was warmly received when he touted a new book called "Real Change." ...The irony of the contrast seemed lost on...

What can you do with a man like Chris Christie? The answer, according to many with the conservative movement: Throw him overboard. And while we're at it, let's toss the gays over the side too. The popular governor of New Jersey has certainly angered many conservatives, including this humble scribe. During the crucial final days of the presidential election, Christie didn't merely embrace President Obama, he all but endorsed him. Then, during the congressional fight over the...

`I think the only deception is if you knew you were deceiving them when you were doing it.' -- Gary Barnett's reaction to the widespread perception that he deceived his Northwestern University superiors, players and followers before deciding to return to Colorado and signing a five-year contract worth $710,000 a year. PRESIDENT CLINTON'S PERSONAL LAWYER DAVID KENDALL, GIVING FAIR WARNING BEFORE DEFENDING HIS CLIENT ON THURSDAY BEFORE THE SENATE: `I apologize in advance...

It's a safe bet that most conservative Republicans would rush to support a political leader with the following record, especially in a traditionally Democratic state: -- Reversed a $2.2 billion deficit and brought it into balance without raising taxes, largely by reduced spending and eliminating wasteful and unaffordable programs, allowing for a projected fiscal 2014 budget surplus of $300 million. -- Bipartisan pension and benefits reforms, saving the state $120 billion over 30 years.

Conservatives got a reminder to oppose the Bush administration when they disagree with its policies, but few at their annual conference are in a mood to complain. President Bush is on a roll with his anti-terrorism campaign and has lofty ratings in the polls. That momentum seems to be carrying along the conservative movement. "I've been at these meetings in past years where there's been a despondency," Republican strategist Randy Tate said Friday. This year, "You've...

* Annual meeting honors maligned industry * Obama: Consultants love their own "genius" * Few Romney consultants or aides appear at conference By Samuel P. Jacobs WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - This is a golden era for political consultants - well, except for those Republicans still smarting from the November elections. But Americans' political tastes tend to run in cycles, so there is always a mix of hope and wariness when consultants at ...

Interpret the GOP Thanks to Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau correspondent Jill Zuckman for her straight-ahead reporting on Mitt Romney's decision to end his run for the Republican nomination for the presidency ("Romney ends run, propels McCain; Senator's goal now to unite GOP," Page 1, Feb. 8). In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Romney stated: "If this were only about me, I would go on . . . I entered this race because I love America."

— If last week's Conservative Political Action Conference were a papal conclave, black smoke would be billowing from the chimney at the Gaylord Convention Center. The cardinals of the conservative movement, assembling for their annual confab, skipped the usual recitations of their common creed in favor of an emotional and inconclusive argument over what had gone wrong with their movement, how it could be fixed, and who, in a puff of white smoke, could lead them to spiritual renewal.

Mitt Romney's farewell speech Thursday was a stark departure for the longtime venture capitalist whose campaign was always more PowerPoint presentation than passion. "This is not an easy decision for me," Romney told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. "I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters ... many of you right here in this room ... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming president. If this were only about me, I would go...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative activists picked Senator Rand Paul on Saturday as their preferred presidential nominee for 2016, in an early but often unreliable snapshot of the Republican Party's base. The Kentucky lawmaker, whose father, former U.S. Representative Ron Paul, ran for president three times, topped the annual straw poll taken at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Paul captured 25 percent of the vote, narrowly beating out Florida Senator Marco Rubio,...

Conservative activists, searching for a new leader and a new program to follow after Ronald Reagan is gone, on Friday inspected a batch of 1988 presidential candidates, some old and some new, and listened to a long list of policy suggestions, most of them old, for the 1990s. Victory over communism, not peaceful coexistence, was the major theme of the Conservative Political Action Conference. The State Department under Secretary George Shultz was the favorite whipping boy. Jockeying between...

OXON HILL, Maryland (Reuters) - At a gathering for conservatives to plot their future, there was a stark reminder of the past on Friday as failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney made his first public speech since election night. "I am sorry that I won't be your president," Romney told the audience of the Conservative Political Action Conference, "but I will be your co-worker and I will stand shoulder to shoulder beside you. " Since he accepted defeat to...

The composer of the Survivor hit "Eye of the Tiger" has sued Newt Gingrich to stop the Republican presidential candidate from using the "Rocky III" anthem at campaign events. The lawsuit was filed today in federal court in Chicago by Rude Music Inc., the Palatine-based music publishing company owned by Frank Sullivan, who, with Jim Peterik, composed the song and copyrighted it in 1982. The lawsuit states that as early as 2009, Gingrich has entered...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative activists picked Senator Rand Paul on Saturday as their preferred presidential nominee for 2016, in an early but often unreliable snapshot of the Republican Party's base. The Kentucky lawmaker, whose father, former U.S. Representative Ron Paul, ran for president three times, topped the annual straw poll taken at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Paul captured 25 percent of the vote, narrowly beating out Florida Senator Marco Rubio,...

The next national election is almost two years away, but it's not too early to remind Republican presidential hopefuls not to blow their party's chances. In fact, it's almost too late. With a Democratic incumbent who has been publicly humiliated, exposed as a liar and possibly a perjurer, who has brought shame on himself and pity on his family, who has been impeached and will almost certainly be censured by Congress, if not removed from office--well, you can imagine what candidates eager to be...